You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball…Of course, baseball fans know that this line from Bull Durham is far from true, part of the humor of the movie and a huge part of the fun of the game. This blog is a space to talk about baseball, being a baseball fan, all of those things that make the game fun and the Angels, because they make baseball fun for me.

Results tagged ‘ Economy ’

It seems like this time of year everyone starts thinking about making changes and improvements. While changes can be important, experts caution, and rightly so, not to fixate so much on one big change that it starts to seem like a panacea for all of our problems. Great advice, but often a little tricky to follow. I mean, how often do you start to think along these lines? If I could only lose 10 pounds, I would finally be happy. If I could just get a better job, everything would improve, even my relationships. If only we could move to San Jose, we would make it the World Series! Because, oh yes, baseball teams do this too.

Not that I’m mocking the A’s here. I mean, really, it does sound like moving to San Jose could be a very good thing for the team. And while we’re at it, I’m glad the Marlins got to move to Miami and I hope the Rays get the go ahead to build their dream stadium too. However, in order to be able to make (continue to make in the case of the Marlins after this big splash of an offseason) the kind of personnel decisions these teams believe their respective moves will grant them, the new stadiums need to actually bring in more money, a lot more money.

New stadiums in higher income neighborhoods with a theorized greater propensity towards rabid baseball fandom do stand a greater chance of bringing in more fans and, ultimately, more money. But outside of the movies simply building it isn’t always enough to make the fans come, an idea that has been largely absent from coverage of the Marlins move and of the brief rumors that the A’s were making progress on the San Jose front earlier this week.

Hey, I want everything to work out as planned for A’s, Marlins and Rays. Baseball is meant to be enjoyed by as many people as possible, improved attendance for any team helps the entire sport, and largely empty stadiums are a sad sight indeed. But a move cannot cure all of the reasons the current stadiums are empty. For example, the Bay Area and the state of Florida, even in their more affluent neighborhoods, still haven’t recovered from our most recent economic woes…and in both cases not from the economic issues in the decade leading up to that either.

This is not to say I think the teams should scrap plans for (or regret) the moves. (The Miami Marlins should regret those uniforms to be sure, but not the move!) I do think there is real benefit to be gained from moving. I’m just calling for more realistic expectations, especially from the media responsible for informing the fans…a tall order, that. And lest you think I’m forgetting to point out another instance of this panacea type thinking that hits a lot closer to home: Oh, if only the Angels had Albert Pujols, the lineup that was 10th in runs scored and 6th in GIDP in the AL in 2011 would suddenly be fearsome! What’s that you say? We have no lineup incentive to prevent Pujols from becoming the most walked man in the AL 2012 and in 2011 he G’d into more DPs than anyone else anyway? *claps hands over ears* La la la la la.

*clears throat* Ahem. Like I said. Great advice, but often a little tricky to follow.

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